(KLZA)-- (Peru, Neb.) Peru State College President Dr. Dan Hanson today announced the appointment of Dr. Tim Borchers as vice president for academic affairs.

Borchers, a native of Sidney, Nebraska, most recently served as dean of the College of Arts, Media and Communication at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). 

President Hanson said, “We are excited to welcome Dr. Borchers to the Peru State family. His work with student success initiatives, assessment of student learning and community engagement fit perfectly with our mission. It was clear during his campus interview that his vision and experience will provide important leadership for Peru State College.”

Borchers said, “Peru State's focus on student engagement aligns closely with my core beliefs about the role of higher education. I am very impressed with the accomplishments of the Peru State students and the dedication of its faculty to ensuring student success.”

Borchers has spent his career at MSUM, joining the faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies, Film Studies and Theatre Arts. He was named chair of the department in 2004.

While at MSUM, Borchers served as associate dean of the College of Social and Natural Sciences from 2005-07, chair of the Department of Communication Studies from 2007-08 and interim dean of the College of Arts and Humanities from 2008-10. He was named dean in 2010 and remained in that role until 2013 when he was named dean of the College of Arts, Media and Communication.

 In addition to having numerous articles published in national academic journals, Borchers authored the books Persuasion in the Media Age, first published by McGraw Hill, and Rhetorical Theory: An Introduction, published by Waveland Press.

Borchers has presented papers at a variety of academic and communication industry conventions across the country. He served as an advisory board member for the Valley Forensic League, on the Editorial Review Board for the North Dakota Journal of Speech and Theatre for the North Dakota Speech and Theatre Association and executive director of the Michigan Intercollegiate Speech League. He is also a member of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences.

 Borchers has also served as editor of the National Forensic Journal, editorial/publication board member of the National Federation of State High School Associations, associate editor of the Forensic Educator and was on the editorial review board of Speaker and Gavel for Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha. He was a member of The Chair Academy’s International Practitioners Advisory Board and a moderator for the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Interscholastic Debate on the China Topic: An Audio-Visual Instructional Package.

Borchers holds a Bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, a Master’s degree in communications from Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan) and a Ph.D. in rhetorical theory from Wayne State University.

Borchers’ wife, Susanne Williams, and their son, Oliver, will join him.